The Suite Life X
by Waxing Shadow
Summary: The Suite Life Gang are in for quite a shock when they find themselves in the world of Mega Man X. Will they have the strength and courage to "fight for everlasting peace" alongside the Blue Bomber of the 22nd Century? Read on and find out!
1. Chapter 1: Lighting Up the Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Suite Life Series. That belongs to It's a Laugh Productions and Disney.**

* * *

_Throughout the annals of all recorded history, there have been those who are regarded by the world (or the worlds they inhabit) as heroes. They come in many forms. Some are intelligent, some are instinct-driven. Some are fighters through and through, while others may constantly ask themselves "What am I fighting for?" The heroes mentioned herein may come from the most unlikely of places, but that… Ah, screw it. Let's just get on with it, already!_

The sun was just beginning to set somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, bathing the sailing S.S. Tipton in a bright orange glow. Manning a smoothie stand on an area of the ship known as the "Sky Deck" was a blonde teenager by the name of Zack Martin. It had been a slow day, so he was very relaxed. In fact, he was so much so that he was actually asleep on the job! He was sleeping rather peacefully until a familiar voice woke him up.

"Zack. Zack… ZACK!"

The teen in question came back to reality to find his younger brother Cody and his girlfriend Bailey staring back at him, and neither looked amused in the slightest. The former spoke fist.

"Nice of you to join us, Zack. May I ask how long you've been out?"

Wiping sleep from his eyes, Zack looked at his watch. "Uh… about thirty minutes. Why?"

"Hmm… How should I say this?" Cody pondered aloud. His now-ritualized lecture on work ethic caught in his throat as he looked around him. "You know what? I really don't need to say anything this time because those guys right there can say it for me."

Zack looked over in the direction that his brother was motioning towards to find a massive line of customers. Soon, the older twin was swamped by complaints and orders, causing him to scramble desperately to tend to everyone. It was nearly dark by the time he'd finished.

Meanwhile, in her (and Bailey's) room, Hotel Heiress London Tipton was shuffling through tabloids, looking for any sign of the latest trends. She had been voted as one of the "Top 10 Richest Youths" by Jobs Business Magazine, and was not content with staying there. She had to be number one, and she figured that the way to get there was to stay current.

"… Nope… Nope… Nope… Who even wears those anymore? Ugh!" London let out a discouraged sigh. She needed a break.

She'd decided to head to the smoothie bar on the Sky Deck. She was greeted by Cody and Bailey, not that she paid them any attention. She was focused on her smoothie. "Zach, I'm so glad you're here! I need a medium smoothie, strawberry banana. It's an emergency!"

Zach groaned and rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. Coming right up."

After getting her smoothie, she sat down at Bailey and Cody's table.

"London! I haven't seen you all day!" Bailey greeted cheerfully, trying to hide the fact that she was secretly happy to have the stipendiary of the Tipton fortune out of her hair for once. "What've you been up to?"

"If you must know, I've been voted as 5th richest teen in the world…" London began.

"…by Jobs Business Magazine." Cody finished "We know."

Ignoring Cody, London continued, "Anyway, if I want to stay com… compet…"

"Competitive." Cody assisted.

"…then I have got to be on top of the latest trends."

"Any luck with that so far?" Bailey Inquired.

London shook her head dejectedly. "No…"

"Don't worry about it." Cody reassured. "These kinds of things operate in a cycle." A befuddled stare from the youthful Tipton prompted more explanation. "By the time you even find out what's 'in', it'll probably be 'so last season', as you put it."

While London didn't really understand all that Cody had said, she did feel better for some reason. She smiled at the intelligent twin and continued to enjoy her smoothie.

"That was very sweet of you, Cody!" Bailey praised. "You know, you could become a motivational speaker. Do you think they offer those kinds of classes at Yale?"

Cody looked lovingly into his girlfriend's eyes as he said, "Trust me, you're the only motivation I'll ever need."

That led to the couple giggling at each other while swapping loving remarks. Now Zack was the unamused one.

After mocking the pair's giggling, Zack remarked, "Oh, would you two just get a room already?"

"We'll get ours when you clean yours." Cody retorted with a smirk.

Zack glared touchily at his brother. "Touché."

As the elder twin began to close up shop for the night, he noticed a white light shining from the sky above. Since the moon was supposed to be "new" tonight (according to Cody), it couldn't have been that. "Um… guys, are you seeing this?"

Everyone else looked up to see what Zack was talking about. They stared at the light, hopelessly transfixed as it grew brighter and brighter until… darkness ensued.


	2. Chapter 2: Enter the Maverick Hunters

**This chapter gets the reader up to speed on the "X-Trio" and makes things interesting. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life Series or Mega Man X. Disney and Capcom, respectively are the owners.**

* * *

_Sometime in the 22__nd__ Century…_

Reploids, highly advanced robots capable of the ability to think, feel, and act entirely of their own accord, cooperate with humans to create a peaceful society. There are problems, however; those reploids of whom cause destruction and chaos, or Mavericks, have become a constant source of discord throughout the world. In response, the "Father of Reploids" Dr. Cain founded the Maverick Hunters, an organization dedicated to combating this threat.

There are three Hunters of this organization that stand above all others. The first of them is Mega Man X, better known as X. His design and unique mental capacities served as the basis for all reploids that came afterward. Next is Zero, a powerful and highly advanced robot (though curiously, not actually a reploid himself) with a warrior's spirit and a mysterious past. The third member is Axl. This brash young hunter is also the prototype of a new generation of reploids that would be able to adapt to their situations using an innate "copy ability".

It had been rather slow lately at Hunter Base, and Axl was getting restless. Nothing major in the way of Maverick outbreaks had happened in a few months, and if he had to sit at a computer and "navigate" for the small cadre of Hunters he had under his command for one more day, he feared he might go crazy. Luckily for the dual-wielding Hunter, his day was not to be that monotonous. Zero and X had called him to a meeting. They said it was very important. As he walked down the hall with his fellow hunters, he couldn't help but wonder what it was about. He turned to X. "So, X. You know what they want to see us for?"

The Blue Bomber just shrugged his shoulders "Beats me. Alia just said something about three new recruits and ran out."

"Same here." Zero added.

Axl cringed. He really didn't want to babysit three more rookie hunters. He wanted to be out in the field, using Mavericks as target practice.

Upon entering the repair bay, they were greeted by the top navigator herself, along with 3 stasis pods. "Take a good look, boys. These three New Generation Reploids will be your direct protégés."

"What? Now I have more of them to take care of? This is so unfair! I just want to take out some Mavericks, not play teacher to a bunch of newbies!"

"Now, Axl. I assure you, these three are very different." A male voice spoke up from the corner of the room. It was none other the commander of the Maverick Hunters, Signas. "These three possess unique talents and skills that would make them very valuable members of the team. In short, these aren't your ordinary rookies. Come take a look."

The Hunter Trio took a look at the three pods. The first two Reploids looked rather similar. The leftmost one had a red, bulky frame with gray-plated knuckles, while the rightmost one had a slimmer frame with an arm cannon similar to X's own. Curiously, both had blonde artificial hair just like Zero's, although it wasn't arranged in a ponytail like the latter's. The third one appeared to be female. She had a gold framework and long, black hair. The girl was welding what appeared to be a mechanical crossbow.

Alia soon got the group's attention again. "Now, you're probably wondering what their names are. Trust me, they're… quite unusual. Especially the girl on the right."

"Well, out with it. What are their names?" Zero asked impatiently.

"From left to right: Zack, Cody, and London."

* * *

**Well, did you enjoy? I'd really like to hear your feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3: Technical Specifications

**This one gives some insight into the Suite Life gang's capabilities as Reploids.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 2. **

Chapter 3

Loading data… COMPLETE

Conducting analysis… COMPLETE

* * *

Model: ZM-2005 "Twin Unit"

A.I. Age: 16

Codename: Zack

Body Specifications: Built with a rugged, armored plating designed to minimize damage. Pressurized thrusters on legs allow for enhanced jumping ability.

Weapon: Specially designed plating on hands and feet, or "Z-Knuckle" grants tremendous strength, allowing for strikes that hit with tremendous force. Armor also grants improved durability

Notes: This is the first Reploid that specializes in hand-to-hand combat.

Continuing analysis…

Model: CM-2005 "Twin Unit"

A.I. Age: 16

Codename: Cody

Body Specifications: Lean, sleek frame allows for added mobility. Radar in headpiece allows for readings of surroundings with 92% accuracy. Speed enhanced by 30% when system health falls below 50%.

Weapon: Arm cannon "C-Buster" specifically designed for small, but accurate shots. Can be charged for a bigger shot in exchange for speed.

Concluding analysis…

Model: LT-2011

A.I. Age: Unknown

Codename: London

Body Specifications: Designed to be fast and light, with minimal padding. Able to hover great distances due to a thruster pack hidden in back sheathing. Laser-guided eyepiece reticule allows for optimum precision.

Weapon: Mechanical crossbow "L-Bow" can fire many different projectiles.

Analysis complete.

* * *

**If you liked it (or not), I would love to hear your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4: Waking Up

**This time, we're back with The Suite Life Gang. This one is long, so please, bare with it. The real action kicks off soon, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1-3.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Cody awoke from what seemed like a dreamless sleep with a start. Naturally, he took note of his surroundings. _Let's see. I'm in a tube in some sort of laboratory with four robots staring back at me. _Then, he took the time to process that thought. His result: a resounding _WHAT? _As he tried to come to grips with what he was seeing, the blue robot spoke up.

"Hey, guys. It looks like one of them is finally awake."

With that, the tube Cody was in opened and he managed to stand up despite the shock he was in. He instinctually stretched his arms. It was then that it hit him: he didn't know what he was, but it certainly wasn't human. His body was encased in a dark blue armor. His feet (or at least, what took their place) were two hoof-like boots that seemed to be part of his body. His hands appeared to be gloves with white fingers that were supported by blue covering on the palm and back of each hand. His left arm also seemed to have an attachment of some kind rimming around it. After examining this change in wardrobe. He looked towards the other robots. The blue one, again was the first to speak.

"Hello, Cody. My name is Mega Man X, but most people just call me X. Nice to meet you."

X seemed friendly enough, but the younger Martin twin was still quite terrified. When he managed to find his voice and calm himself down enough to use it, he asked, "What am I? What's going on here?"

"You're what's known as a Reploid."

"What's that?"

"It's a highly advanced robot." This voice was not X's, but of the robot… or, Reploid standing next to him. The one in question was red with a blonde ponytail. In spite of his appearance, his voice was very much male. "Able to think and feel on its own, a Reploid can make decisions like a human can."

Cody's confusion gave way to fascination as he listened to X and, as he learned, Zero's description of and brief history lesson on Reploids. Evidently, his own personality and memories hadn't been "lost in the shuffle", so to speak.

"So, let me get this straight." The human-turned-Reploid began. "X here was the first in a line of robots that are pretty much human in every way except physically?"

"Yup. Pretty much." The voice came from a female Reploid sitting at a computer desk. "My name's Alia, by the way."

Before he could go on a lengthy diatribe about how cool this was and how any scientist from his world would kill to make something like this, he heard a chamber open and a very familiar voice.

"Ugh. Where am I…?"

"Zack?" Upon closer inspection, Cody noticed that his brother was built (if that was the right word) much… bulkier than himself, as if he was meant for heavy combat. He also was an even darker shade of red than Zero.

"Cody?" Zack gave a half-hearted smile, as he was both relieved and confused at the situation.

Cody sighed and returned the smile. "It's a long story, bro. We'll get you up to speed." Looking to X, he motioned for him to start explaining.

…

Axl had stayed strangely silent throughout the whole thing. He was still miffed at the idea of being stuck inside the base. He eyed the last unopened chamber somewhat disinterestedly. The gold-plated girl seemed as if she was sleeping peacefully. He was beginning to drift off himself when the girl started to stir. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. The piercing scream that followed was high-pitched enough to break the capsule's glass tubing and get the others to pay attention.

"Where am I? You better not have kidnapped me! Daddy's going to hear about…" the girl's voice trailed off as she took a good look at herself. She could only stare wide-eyed at her hands and the rest of her new body.

Zack and Cody rushed over, clearly worried about the girl's outburst. They both asked to be excused and led the girl into the next room over.

…

"Are you OK now, London?" Cody asked after a few more minutes of London's panicking. She nodded yes, but she was still shaking violently.

"Good." Zack continued with a sigh of relief. "Now, I'm sure you're probably very scared right now…"

London briefly broke from her fear to give the elder Martin twin a 'no, duh' look.

"That's all right. Believe me, we were, too." Zack motioned for his twin to pick up where he left off, but London beat him to the punch.

"C-can't we get Daddy to take us home?"

Silence fell upon the room. The twins exchanged looks, unsure of what to tell her. They both knew that wherever they were, the likelihood of the Tipton name even being known around here was practically '

"Sorry, London. We can't. In fact, we don't even know where we are. I don't even think that they would know who your dad is."

Zack stepped in to sum it up. "Here, to them, you're not London Tipton, Billionaire Heiress. You're just… London."

The young woman hung her head. Both of her friends tried to think of something uplifting to say. In a rare show of their "twin telepathy", they both simultaneously said, "Don't worry. We'll get you through this."

* * *

**Did you like it? I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5: Of Navigators and Mavericks

**This one's a little bit of a "bridge chapter". It also should help clear a few things up. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill by now, don't you?**

* * *

Chapter 5

The Suite Life Gang headed back into the laboratory without a word. While X showed visible concern on his face, he didn't question them. After all, how could he respond to what just happened? He decided to just put it aside for now.

"Anyway… we should probably take you three to Troia Base for some training." X said, referring to the Hunters-in training. "We'll split up into three groups: I'll take Cody, Zero will take Zack, and that leaves Axl with London."

The trigger-happy hunter was not pleased. "Why her? She just screamed my ear off. Besides, she probably wouldn't be able to keep up anyway."

"Axl! Give her a chance. She might do better than you think." Alia reproached, slightly irritated by the dual wielder's behavior. He just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Oh, what do you know? I bet I could keep up with you just fine!" London challenged, now locking eyes with her mentor.

"That's the spirit. Scared this little lady will give you a run for your money, Axl?" That voice was that of Signas, who'd been watching their exchange.

Axl grumbled something and crossed his arms. After introducing the twins and London to Signas, Alia had one last piece of business to take care of before sending the Hunters on their way.

"Before you go, there is someone I'd like you to meet." Alia turned to X, Zero, and Axl. "As you know, Layer and Palette have been temporarily reassigned to another Hunter Base near Point Oasis. Well, it turns out that we just happened to have another Reploid that was awakened around the same time as your protégés."

Everyone's (figurative) ears perked up at the statement. Zack, Cody, and London knew who she was talking about immediately, though they hadn't really thought about her since they were on the ship. Alia waved the person in question in. A thin grayish Reploid with a brunette hair color strolled in.

"Bailey, is that really you?" Cody asked in stunned amazement.

She confirmed his suspicions with a nod, and that's all it took for her three friends to come running up to her, with Cody and London hugging her. After the trio filled her in on what had happened, Bailey explained how she had been woken up in a chamber a few floors down by what appeared to be a little girl. Before she could ask who she was however, she ran out of the room. After freaking out a bit at her situation, she wandered aimlessly around Hunter Base until she ran into Alia. The two girls did get to talking, and eventually, Bailey was offered the chance to be a navigator, which she jumped at. She didn't know what to do next, anyway.

WARNING! WARNING!

A blaring red siren got everyone's attention. Alia wasted no time.

"Massive amounts of Mavericks have been detected at 3 distinct locations: the Sky Lagoon Ruins, Central Highway, and the old Eurasia crash site."

"Wait. Haven't we been in all of those places?" Zero inquired.

"Yes. Kind of strange, actually. Nevertheless, you guys need to head out. Oh, and take your pupils, there. They could use the experience."

Zack, Cody, and London were overloaded by all of the information they were taking in. What was happening? Where were they going? And what the heck was a Maverick? Before they could open their mouths to say anything, they were grabbed and warped away to their destinations by their respective mentors.

* * *

**Things start getting interesting in the next chapter. Until then, review if you feel like it.**


	6. Chapter 6: A Vile Visitor

**Hello to you all! I kept true to my word and got this part out as soon as I could. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Since you already know the drill by now, I'll just put some of my own "fun facts" here. Did you know that this one is my longest chapter to date?**

* * *

Chapter 6

The reddish skies of the remnants of the Sky Lagoon were pierced by two beams of light: one a lighter shade of red than the other. When they hit the ground, they materialized into Zack and Zero. The former's shock had worn off by now, and he was about to chew his mentor out for dragging him out here. That is, until he took a good look around.

The ruins that surrounded him looked like those of a futuristic city. What looked like futuristic buses were in disrepair, strewn about the twisted roads and broken skyscrapers littered about the landscape. That was to say nothing of the crimson skies overhead that would probably be noxious to breathe in had he been human. Only one thought came to the impulsive Martin twin's mind: _What happened here?_ He turned to the ponytailed swordsman with a look that was both questioning and stunned.

Zero sighed as he began, "This place used to be a floating metropolis known as the Sky Lagoon. Thousands of humans and Reploids lived here in relative peace."

"What happened?" Zack asked, unable to keep his rolling emotions from showing in his voice. "This place looks like a bomb went off on it!"

"A Maverick traitor by the name of Magma Dragoon sabotaged the Sky Lagoons engines so it would fall to the ground, killing most of the inhabitants in the process."

"Why? Why would anyone do this?" The darker red Reploid practically spat, truly horrified that one Maverick (whatever that was) could do something so cruel.

"That's the messed up thing. He did all that just to goad X and I into a fight."

"Where is this guy?" Zack growled angrily. "When I get my hands on him, I'll—"

Zero cut him off "Oh relax, Zack. Dragoon's long gone anyway. I made sure of that myself. Besides, I doubt you're ready for a fight like that."

Before his charge could respond, Zero perked up in suspicion at the noises coming from the charred remnants of the buildings. They were certainly not alone. Without warning, dozens of mechaniloids sprang from various parts of the wreckage and went after the duo. Some strange new instinct that Zack couldn't quite place kicked in and he started swinging at the rogue robots. To his surprise, not only did he knock the robots away, but he sent them _flying_. It was as if he was hitting pieces of Styrofoam as he took out one after another. Not to be outdone, Zero made very short work of his foes with his trusty Z-Saber.

With the last of the mechaniloids destroyed, the bowl-cut Hunter snapped out of his battle-induced stupor and took a good look at the damage he'd done. _Whoa._ _Did I… Did I just do all that? _He wondered as he surveyed the damage around him.

"Well, it looks like we're done here." Zero stated, only to be proven wrong when he heard a very familiar cackle.

"Wahahahahahaha!"

_No. It couldn't be. _Zero thought. It surely couldn't be him again, could it?

"Zero, is that you?" the voice asked in mock surprise. "It's been so long…"

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Zack called, putting on a brave face. In reality, he was more than a bit worried. Whoever this guy was, he sounded like he had more than a few screws loose.

Suddenly, a black blur bounded across the wreckage and stopped in a more humanoid form in front of the Hunters. The black Reploid appeared to be armed to the teeth and, at least to Zack, looked kind of like Boba Fett from _Star Wars_.

Zero unsheathed his to-this-point dormant saber and struck a fighting pose. "Vile. I can't say I wanted to see you again. Why don't you ever take the hint and stay dead? Your boss already is."

If he had a mouth to speak of, Vile would've surely had a demented smile on his face. "What, and miss this little reunion of ours? No way!" the Maverick then turned his attention to Zack, whose uneasiness grew. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Vile zipped around Zack, sizing up his new plaything.

"Dude, it's called personal space. Back off." Zack said, trying to hide his fear of this guy behind a mask of defiance. He was pretty sure this guy was what you would get if you gave The Joker access to an armory.

The black-dyed madman simply laughed in his face. "Oh… oh, good!" he paused to laugh some more before continuing. "You should be great fun… that is, until you die!"

With that, Vile hurled two bombs at the heroes. Zack barely got out of the way before one exploded, turning one of the crumbling buildings to ruins. He then fired his side-mounted Gatling gun, sending a spray of bullets the Hunters' way. Zero swatted said bullets out of the sky with his saber while Zack put his hands up instinctively to stop the bullets. To the latter's amazement, the projectiles simply ricocheted off his tough armor. Emboldened, Zack decided to go on the offensive. He ran at Vile with his fist reared back (which, unbeknownst to him, was glowing) for a punch, but Zero beat him to it, slashing the renegade in the shoulder. Vile staggered back, still laughing as he chucked a couple of grenades at Zack and Zero. Both never made it to their marks before they were either punched away or slashed to pieces.

"I'd love to catch up with you more, Zero, but I've got some business to take care of right now. Oh, and I'll see you real soon too…" Vile trailed off.

"Zack." Zack finished, now crossing his arms and glaring coldly at his new adversary.

Vile chuckled. "I'll remember that. Bye-bye, now!"

With that, Vile warped away. Zack wasn't the least bit interested in staying here any longer.

"Can we go now?" He asked.

Zero simply nodded, said something that Zack couldn't quite make out into what he guessed was a communicator of some sort on his right arm, and they both warped away.

* * *

**Suggested BGM:**

**Opening Stage (Zero): "Awake Road Again" - Mega Man X7**

**Opening Stage (Zack): "Sky Lagoon (Zero)" - Mega Man X4**

**Read and review if you feel like it. I'd love to hear your feedback!**


	7. Chapter 7: On the Highway

**Yeah, it took a while to finally get this chapter up. You know, school and all. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 7

Upon touchdown on Central Highway, X took a deep breath to collect himself. Cody, however, couldn't believe what he was seeing. The highway before him was swarming with robots of various sizes and shapes causing havoc everywhere.

Upon realizing this himself, X frowned. "Oh, great. These Mavericks are really making a mess. Guess we've got work to do."

"What?" Cody gasped, surprised. "How are we supposed to clean all of this up?"

"Just follow my lead, OK?" With that, X withdrew his left hand for his X-Buster, much to his blonde pupil's shock. Noticing this, X added, "You should be able to call out your buster with a mental impulse. Just think about it." With that, X took off.

Cody cleared his mind, focusing on calling out his own arm cannon. Soon enough, his own hand was sucked back into his arm in exchange for his own "C-Buster". He didn't have much time to marvel at this, however, as he had to get going to keep up with X.

The dark blue Hunter darted ahead, mowing down the minor enemies almost instinctually with the orb like projectiles coming from his weapon. He made it to a clearing in the destroyed highway right under an overpass. That was when he noticed a gigantic shadow looming over him. Upon looking up, he was met by what looked like a massive mechanical scorpion with a whip like, segmented tail.

Fear gripped the rookie Hunter as the metallic beast glared at what was apparently its newest prey. The brief stare down ended when the scorpion leapt off the overpass and into action, lashing its tail out at Cody. The Martin twin barely managed to leap and roll out of the way before his adversary could skewer him. The mechaniloid then shot a volley of missiles from various openings in its body. While he dodged some of them, a few managed to land plush, burning and blasting Cody off his feet.

Cody's own thoughts went really after that hit along with his body. _Ugh. That really hurt, but what can I do to that thing? It's much bigger than anything I've dealt with up to this point. _Nevertheless, the dark blue robot aimed a volley of shots at the scorpion… with no luck whatsoever. Enraged, the scorpion charged at him. He was kind of at a loss as to what to do, when an idea popped into his head. He readied a shot from his C-Buster, but instead of letting it go immediately, he held onto it. A strange pressure began to build up inside his body. Thrown off by this, he just stood there. He was seconds away from taking what would likely be a very painful tackle when he heard a voice.

"Hey, ugly! I've got something for you right here. Come on!"

Both combatants turned their attention to the speaker, which turned out to be X.

"Cody! Get out of the way. I'll handle this." The less experienced hunter didn't need to be told twice, and promptly moved out of the way.

With a few well-placed charged shots, along with volley a smaller shots, X quickly reduced his enemy to rubble. Cody was watching the whole thing, impressed by how quickly and easily X took the thing down when he himself couldn't even scratch it.

The Blue Bomber breathed a collective sigh when it was all over. He turned to the young hunter that he saved, who was both amazed at what X just did, and shocked by what he just faced.

"Thanks. For saving me, I mean," Cody said, his nerves quite frayed by the experience.

"You're welcome," The Maverick Hunter returned. X silently looked Cody over and realized that his comrade's injuries were somewhat serious. "You're quite banged up. We'd better get you back to HQ. Let's go."

With an acknowledging nod from his protégé, X whispered something into a communicator embedded in his arm and both Hunters promptly warped away.

* * *

**Suggested BGM:**

**Opening Stage (X): "Opening Stage"- Mega Man X**

**Opening Stage (Cody): "Sky Lagoon (X)" - Mega Man X4**

**I hope you enjoyed this. Be sure to read and review! **


	8. Chapter 8: World of Confusion

Adrian Campbell

T-10-28-14

Chapter 8

Distorted, ancient hums echoed throughout the Eurasia Colony Crash Site as two Maverick Hunters (one highly experienced, one… not so much) landed on a crumbling slab of concrete. While the navy one was raring to go with an itchy trigger finger, the golden one barely registered the fact that they had landed at all. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"London!" Axl called, picking up on his ally's far-gone state.

The misplaced rich kid snapped out of it upon hearing the foreign voice. Upon realizing where she was, she could only manage a shaky "W-where…?"

"The place where the world almost ended… or at least, that's what X and Zero told me," Axl said as he prepped his guns. He test fired his two pistols up in the air, making London flinch at every shot. "Come on, we've got work to do."

An uneasy silence loomed over the duo as they explored the ruined crater. Strangely, there didn't seem to be anything amiss, aside from the obvious destruction. This set the trigger-happy prototype on edge.

Axl turned to London. "Something's not right here. Be on your guard."

The Reploid teenager stared at Axl as if he'd grown a second head. "Okay…"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

The golden Hunter shook her head, prompting Axl to groan in frustration. This was going to be harder then he thought.

"Fine. Just…just… stay behind me."

Soon, they came to a series of cliff platforms overlooking several rows of spikes. Upon looking at the metallic needles, London cringed and started backing up. Axl forced himself to assume the mentorship role once again.

"Look, you're going to need a running start if you're going to make it over there. Just dash, then jump as high as you can." He promptly demonstrated, rocketing to the nearest safe platform a few feet away. "Oh, by the way," he added, "You _don't_ want to touch the spikes. Just don't."

"You make it look so easy," London yelled back at Axl. Regardless, she gathered up the courage to make a run across the ground which turned into a proper jet-assisted dash. She leapt up like a spring, clearing the spikes with ease. She jumped so high, it took her by surprise. Unfortunately, the landing… wasn't very graceful.

Axl couldn't help but laugh as his pupil hit the ground.

"Nice landing," he said as he helped her up.

London shot a look of annoyance at Axl. "Ha, ha. Very funny."

"Yes. Yes it was. Let's keep moving."

The rest of the trip was largely uneventful, until they got to a silver door. Axl gave out another "keep up your guard" warning before they headed inside.

They were greeted by what looked like half of a giant mechaniloid that seemed to be controlled by a floating eyelike orb. While London stood there seemingly immobilized by fear, Axl Bailey looked at it as if it was a dirty old cup on a sidewalk. He knew he'd been through much worse than this before.

"Please," Axl said, walking towards the robot with an overconfident smirk on his face. "You think you can intimidate me with just your size? Come on, let's see what you can do."

With that, the robot (or rather, its eye) took aim at the cocky reploid and the torso threw itself at him with intent to crush him. Naturally, Axl dodged the large hunk of metal with ease and started pelting the thing with pistol shots. Unfortunately, while said hunk of metal was very easy to dodge, it took a lot of fire. After a while, the navy-colored android began to tire himself. He started taking damage every so often due to some miscalculated dodge maneuvers.

While all of this was going on, London couldn't quite process was going on in front of her. To her, it seemed so unreal, like something that would come out of one of Zack's video games. But this was real, and she knew it. She even pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and considering that she didn't have "skin" per se, that was not an easy feat.

The heiress was shocked out of her state by the sounds of Axl's pained grunts as he took damage. Although she was still scared, for some odd reason, some strange urge to do something welled up in her mind. With all of her previous thoughts shoved to the very back of her mind for the moment, she walked up to the levitating scrap and said, "Get away from him."

The sentient eye and its mechanical puppet paid her no mind and continued to go after their prey. This did not sit well with London at all. With or without her money, one thing about her stayed true: she did _not_ like to be ignored.

"I said, GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

A weapon materialized in her hand suddenly and she fired it at the robot on instinct. An arrow like projectile hit the robot in the face, not damaging it much, but taking its attention away from Axl. It set upon her until the eye was suddenly shot and faded out for a split second. Axl had pulled the trigger there.

"Aim for the eye," Axl shouted, while taking his own advice. "I think it's its weak point."

Clinging to a wall as Axl had shown her earlier, London aimed for the orb that her partner was shooting at. Soon enough, the orb had had enough, and it along with the floating torso started to flash. Both Hunters hit the deck, avoiding the brunt of the explosion that followed.

"We did it," Axl said, staring back at the wreckage of their adversaries before turning to London. "Nice job."

"Um… thanks," the female Hunter responded with a nervous smile before it quickly faded. "But, how do we get home…"

"Leave that one to me." Axl responded before warping them both back to the base.

* * *

A figure cloaked in shadow looked on at Hunter Base from a nearby cliff side. She put a communicator to her mouth.

"I've located Hunter Base… Do we really have to go through with this?"

The owner of the male voice on the other end seemed to shrug off her misgivings. "Of course. It's for our father, after all."

"Fine…" She groaned. _It's for the new world_, she told herself. "Have you been keeping tabs on those Maverick Hunters?

"Certainly. X, Zero, and Axl are being kept busy by our restored Mavericks."

"What about the others?"

"Others?" the male speaker paused for a bit before remembering who she was referring to. "Oh, you mean those 'new' reploids? They've just come off the lot! They couldn't possibly suspect what's really going on here. They can barely fight, anyhow."

The figure sighed. "Fine. I'll head over. Can I bring Kylie along?"

"Of course. I should be along shortly. Just keep her out of trouble. Good luck Cali."

* * *

"Bye, Black." With that, Cali ended the call and leapt off the cliff side to fetch Kylie and fulfill her part of the mission.


	9. Chapter 9: Aftermath

**Hello again to you all. Sorry I'm late, but here's the next chapter. Let's get rolling!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

* * *

Chapter 9

"The Maverick outbreaks have been successfully quelled at Central Highway…"

Now, all of the Maverick Hunters, as well as their charges were back at Hunter Base, and X was reporting his and Cody's findings.

"...But, Cody has taken damage. Requesting permission to send him to the Repair Bay."

Signas thought for a moment before making his decision. "Granted. In fact, why don't you show him where it is later…? If you can get there, that is." He directed the last part of that sentence to Axl, who wasn't exactly in the best shape of his life either considering the beating he'd taken earlier.

"Fine," Axl replied.

"Also," X continued. "We made contact with what looked like a giant red mechaniloid based on a scorpion."

Zero's attention was piqued here. He could remember fighting something like that with Axl back when he first met the dual wielding reploid. He glanced at the prototype New Generation Reploid, who was fidgeting restlessly. Axl never knew the meaning of the word _professionalism_.

After getting through with X, Signas turned to the blonde swordsman himself for his report. Zero wasted little time. "Aside from a few rogue mavericks, nothing of note was found."

Zack shot Zero an "are you kidding me" look, which the latter ignored before continuing on.

"That is, until we ran into…" The bright crimson robot almost spat out the next word. "…Vile."

The futuristic Blue Bomber's eyes widened at the mention of his and Zero's old nemesis. "What? That lunatic's been brought back to life again? But how?"

Zero wasn't nearly as surprised at Vile's revival. "Beats me. All I know is that he's back, and more insane than ever. The weird thing is that he wasn't so much interested in killing us right then and there. If anything, he was more interested in Zack for some reason."

As he was listening to this, a cauldron of emotions began to brew in Zack's mind. He thought back to everything he had experienced since getting here, from waking up in his pod a while back, all the way up to now. While he was relieved to know that he had Cody, London, and Bailey with him through all this, that didn't lessen any of the more negative emotions he was feeling. He was still horrified by the fact that one "Maverick" could destroy an entire floating city full of people just for the sake of picking a fight. Although Zero said that the threat had been dealt with, that didn't make him any less angry at Magma Dragoon. And then there was Vile, who probably wrote the book on insanity…Zack shuddered just thinking about him. Despite all that he was feeling, he managed to keep his expression neutral, so he wouldn't tip off anyone as to just how much this was bothering him.

Soon enough, it was Axl's turn to give his report. The navy-colored sharpshooter quickly collected himself before starting. "Aside from the place looking like a dump, there wasn't much there. The only thing we really found was at a clearing at the end of the site: it was a giant mechaniloid controlled by some kind of eye thing."

X's eyes widened in recognition. He had fought something like that before as well. This couldn't possibly be a mere coincidence anymore. Just what was going on here?

Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one having these thoughts, as Alia, who had been here taking all of this in as well, decided to voice her concerns.

"I know I've seen the very same mechaniloids that you guys have brought up. The question is, why would they resurface? And while we're on the subject, what's Vile even doing here?"

X's expression turned worried. "I don't know, but I have a very familiar…and very bad feeling about this." He briefly locked eyes with Zero, and while his expression was more resigned, it was no less telling of his understanding of what his friend meant.

* * *

Eventually the meeting concluded, and Axl escorted Cody to the Repair Bay as promised. As they walked, Cody was busy trying to take in all that he had heard. He had been doing that a lot lately, he realized. He had been particularly put off by how the Maverick Hunters were talking about what they'd just been doing. He had suspicions, but he felt the need to clear them, so he got Axl's attention.

"What?" Axl asked, sounding a bit more annoyed than he'd intended to.

The intelligent Martin twin noticed Axl's tone, but felt the need to ask his question anyway.

"So… does this happen on a regular basis?"

"Usually," Axl answered matter-of-factly. "Although most of the time, we have to deal with some small-scale mechaniloid incident. It's not often that we get dragged into the bigger Maverick outbreaks."

Two words that Cody still didn't know the meaning of stuck in his head. "Um…if you don't mind me asking, what's a Maverick and what's a Mechaniloid?"

Axl recited an explanation that he had given so often by now that the words had become second nature to him. "A Maverick is any Reploid that defies the laws of robotics in a way that causes harm to humans or other Reploids. A mechaniloid is a complex machine that isn't nearly as intelligent as a Reploid. Like simpler machines, they can go haywire and cause havoc, which forces us to step in."

As the prototype reploid finished his piece, the two had arrived at their destination.

"Well, here we are. Just pick one of the tubes over there. It doesn't matter which."

What Axl was referring to was a neatly arranged row of tubes that were surrounded by a bunch of computers displaying data that probably had something to do with however healing went, or so Cody thought. He had way too much on his mind already, and couldn't be bothered to add three more questions to his growing mental backlog.

The dark blue reploid simply picked a tube and got in it. Nothing happened at first, but after about 30 seconds, a strange warm feeling came over him. This did puzzle him, and for a brief moment, he wondered how exactly he was feeling this considering his condition. Soon enough, the warm feeling disappeared. Taking that as his cue, he got out of the chamber. Aside from feeling tired, he was in tiptop shape physically. He glanced back at the machine with a smirk. _If this kind of thing existed back home,_ he thought, _a lot of doctors would be out of a job._

* * *

As for London, she didn't leave the briefing room after the meeting, instead standing in place with a very lost look on her face. In fact, she barely understood what the others were saying while it was going on. Alia picked up on this, and asked to see her in private. However, trying to explain the situation to her straight on proved…less than fruitful. Thankfully, Bailey offered to help. Together, the two navigators went to work breaking things down for the heiress-turned-reploid.

"As you could probably guess, you're a reploid, which is basically a highly advanced robot," Alia began, trying to pick her words carefully.

"Highly ad-what, now?" London responded, still not quite getting it.

Bailey, much to her mentor's relief, stepped in. "Let's just say, you're a very smart robot, London."

The golden Hunter looked unsure for a moment before doing something that would baffle anyone who didn't know her (as rare as that case may be).

"Yay, smart me!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands gleefully. This display of happiness warmed the Kettlecorn native's heart. She'd sensed something very off with her friend, but hadn't gotten the chance to bring it up. Alia, on the other hand, was more than a little unnerved by London's little performance.

"Does…Does she always do that?"

Bailey chuckled to herself. "Oh, you have _no _idea."

After waiting for her to settle down, both Alia and Bailey continued with their explanation. When they got to explaining things that were a little less cut and dry, like Mavericks, even Bailey had to look to her mentor for proper understanding. Since defining the term "Maverick" wasn't exactly an easy task (even Alia herself was very much aware of the gray area that existed in the government's description of the term), she decided it would probably be better to simply keep it black and white for now and just say that they were the "bad guys". She followed suit with mechaniloids, merely likening them to "overgrown construction tools" (which wasn't entirely false, actually).

After what seemed like forever, London, while still not exactly ecstatic about lacking the recognition that she was used to, finally seemed to be grasping the situation she was in. After pointing out where and what the barracks were, the two navigators saw their comrade off.


	10. Chapter 10: Training Day

**Enjoy this new chapter, fresh from a long, painful development... well, you know where. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 10

"Now! Fire!"

On X's command, Cody fired a volley of shots at the targets.

By now, it was the next day. As was promised earlier, the six hunters had headed to Troia Base for some training. Each Maverick Hunter took their opposite number aside and got to work. For the Hunters themselves, it was the first chance to get a look at the Suite Life Trio's abilities in a more controlled environment. As for X and Cody themselves, they were doing was known as "agility drills".

Overall, X had been impressed with his pupil's work. Cody was actually reasonably fast, though his accuracy could have used a bit of work. However, for some weird reason, something felt off. X couldn't explain it. There was something about his mannerisms and movements that seemed… strange_. It's almost like he's holding back. Except… he's not, is he? _X shook his rogue thoughts away as Cody finished off the last of the targets.

"So, how'd I do?" Cody asked, breathless.

"Let's see… Two minutes and 13 seconds. Not bad."

Cody managed a grin in spite of himself. Part of him wondered if he could top that. Yes, even here, the overachiever in him was still running rampant.

"Okay. Now, let me show you how it's done," X said as he switched off with the taller twin. Now Cody kept time while X went to work.

As was the case back on Central Highway, watching X move was amazing. There was simply no other way to describe it. Each movement of his was done with the fluidity of an Olympic gymnast, balanced with precision maneuvering and well-timed shots that hit their targets with deadly efficiency. He managed to dust off the entire exercise in less than a minute. In fact, when X was done, he looked like he'd hardly broken a sweat.

"Uh… 56 seconds," Cody read off, still stunned by what he'd just seen.

_New personal best_, the Azure Hunter thought, smiling to himself. "Anyway, we'll take a break for now."

On another side of the base, London and Axl had just arrived at a massive shooting range. Naturally, Axl chose to take the lead.

"Well, here we are. The shooting range," Axl announced.

Beyond the entrance was a glass box with a door that led out into a large series of corridors, each containing several cardboard cutouts laid out at various locations. To any casual observer, this would look like a military-grade shooting gallery. Unfortunately, London Tipton was no casual observer. Frankly, she was still trying to make sense of her surroundings.

Luckily, Axl caught on to this. "I'll bet you're wondering what all this is."

The girl turned to Axl with a confused expression on her face. "Uh, yeah."

The navy reploid simply smirked. _This would be fun._ "Just watch and learn."

What followed was a blur of motion so erratic that the heiress could barely keep up with it even with her enhanced senses. When it was over, a good part of the gallery was charred, but only about half of the targets were hit. Still, it was more than enough to impress London.

"Wow," she managed to gasp.

"Your turn," Axl said, blowing the smoke off his pistol.

"My turn doing _what_, exactly?"

The prototype rolled his eyes at his partner's apparent density. "Just hit all the cutouts as fast as you can."

Before London could say anything more, the entire area around her changed. It now looked completely untouched.

"Seriously, does _everything_ surprise you?" Axl asked once he caught sight of her gaping mouth. "Ugh, never mind. All you need to do is focus. Let your instincts do the rest."

"What do you…?"

"Remember? You already did it once when you saved me from that bucket of bolts back at the crash site. I know you can do it."

The reploid heiress shrugged and tried to focus. Before she knew it, she was buzzing around the training area, blasting targets at a breakneck pace. Five minutes later, she was done. Not only had she hit every target, but she hit with perfect accuracy. Axl could barely form words to describe what he saw.

"B-But, how… You can't be serious… "

"Uh, Axl?"

London was now waving her hand in front of the navy reploid's face, attempting to bring him back to reality. Needless to say, it wasn't working. She ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly.

"Geez. And you say _I'm_ easily surprised."

Meanwhile, Zero had led Zack to yet another area in the base, this one being what was apparently a large, empty room.

"All right, what're we doing here?" Zack asked to no reply.

Zero simply walked to the other side of the room and turned away from before taking out his beam saber and turning around to strike a fighting pose.

"Come on."

"What?!" The darker toned reploid exclaimed, taken aback by his apparent challenge.

"You heard me. Come on. Let's see what you're made of."

In hindsight, Zack should've seen this coming. He took in a shaky breath and charged Zero then and there.

Zero met his advance and turned his own momentum against him, flipping him over. Zack threw a left hook at him as he got up, which Zero merely sidestepped. He dodged a couple more swings while looking for another opening. When he found one, he countered with a small combination of punches and kicks. Another combination was halted when Zack managed to catch his opponent's arm. He threw him halfway across the room with surprising ease.

_Huh. Either Zero is really lightweight, or I'm really strong… Either way, maybe I could use this…_

Zack lunged for Zero as the latter was getting up. Unfortunately for the hot-blooded twin, Zero wasn't nearly as vulnerable as he looked…

…

Unbeknownst to the fighters, they had an audience; Cody and X had found their way to the part of the base where Zack and Zero were sparring. While Cody was surprised that Zack was doing so well considering how new they all were at this. X simply stared ahead, studying the action intently as it unfolded before him. It was obvious to X's trained eyes that Zero was merely getting a feel for what Zack could do at the moment. From what he himself could gather, Zack seemed to be quite the opportunist, gunning for Zero every time he thought he had a shot at him. Of course, Zero was much harder to read in reality. Still, X didn't deny that Zack, like his twin, showed true promise.

* * *

**This chapter was running a little long, so I decided to cut it off here. Feel free to rate and review!**


	11. Chapter 11: Training Day, Part 2

**Hi everyone! This chapter is a long one, but it's the final one before we really get into the action. Regardless, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 11

Back on the battlefield, Zero was more than prepared for his sparring partner's assault; he caught Zack's arms and legs as he pounced, and what followed was a blur of red metal rolling along the ground which ended with Zero judo throwing his rival against a wall on the other side of the room. The resounding crack caused Cody to wince and even made X flinch. Zero took a very careful, guarded look at Zack, and sighed when he was sure the boy was out for the count.

"He'll be fine. I think I've seen all I need to see from him."

With that, he walked out of the sparring arena as if nothing had happened.

Brotherly instinct took over, sending Cody sprinting into the sparring room to check on his brother.

Meanwhile, Bailey and Alia were watching all of this from the navigation room. The former was stunned at what just took place.

"That was… something else."

"Well, that's Zero for ya."

"Is he always that serious, though?"

"As long as I've known him."

Alia looked on in thought for a second before continuing. "You know, your friends are doing pretty well for themselves."

"Yeah, I… Wait. You knew?"

"About you guys not being from this world? Of course. For starters, none of you act like fresh-off-the-lot Reploids, especially considering London's little 'outburst'. But what clinched it for me was your little reunion when you met up with the other three."

"Oh," Bailey said softly. She had forgotten that Alia was still around when she'd met up with the boys and London.

"You guys just seemed way too close for any other explanation to really make sense."

A female voice interrupted their conversation.

"Mind if I butt in, Alia?"

A Reploid woman appearing to be in her 20s physically walked up to the duo. Her armor was cream color with a black trim highlighting the edges. A similarly armor-clad little girl with glasses was holding her hand.

"No problem," the veteran navigator answered. "We weren't really doing much anyways. Bailey, this is Cali, our replacement Navigator."

"Replacement?"

"Our usual other two navigators, Layer and Palette, were reassigned recently. She's kind of here to help fill the void."

"Always a pleasure. I take it you're Bailey?" Cali's last question referred to said gray Reploid.

"Yup, that's me. Nice to meet ya," Bailey answered back before her eyes met the smaller Reploid.

Cali caught this and took the initiative.

"And that's Kylie, my little sister."

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, sweetie."

"Hi, Bailey," the little girl greeted in an oddly raspy voice.

Bailey, not expecting the vocal dissonance, raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, her vocal programming has a few… glitches," Cali added.

"Okay…" Bailey realized something upon getting a better look at the girl. "Say, didn't you let me out of that pod earlier?"

"Yup, yup," the girl replied.

"Well, thank you!"

"Much obliged."

With that, Kylie ran off, leaving Bailey baffled. She's dealt with weirder, considering her friends, past adventures, and what's happened here, but still…

Zack came around to find himself staring at his concerned brother.

"Ugh… Cody? How long was I…?"

"…out? About 10 minutes."

"My head's killing me."

"Yeah, getting your head slammed into a Plexiglas wall at a high rate of speed will do that to you. How much do you remember?"

"Everything up to fighting with Zero. The rest's a blur."

"Well, you guys swapped blows for a couple of minutes, you threw him, and then charged at him, only to wind up getting judo thrown yourself."

Zack got up, rubbing the back of his head and looked around. Zero and X were nowhere to be seen.

"Where did Zero go, anyway?"

"He left a while ago saying that he'd seen enough from you."

"Guys…"

Both twins turned around to see London carrying a catatonic Axl.

"Um, what happened?" Cody asked, bewildered.

"I think I broke Axl…"

The taller twin merely chuckled. "Somehow, I doubt it. Here, let me have a look."

Upon closer inspection, Cody could see that Axl was making odd twitching movements every few seconds.

"Huh. He looks more like he's in shock…"

Zack thought for a moment. "Here, let me try something."

He walked up to Axl and clapped his hands together once. This woke up the navy-colored reploid, sending him out of his pupil's grasp and onto the floor. Axl recovered quickly and reflexively aimed his pistol in front of him.

"Easy, easy. We come in peace," Zack assured.

"What happened?"

London explained the situation as best as she could, with the boys cleaning up details as she went along.

"Well, just so you know, that was a fluke. You couldn't beat me on the targeting range if I was really trying!"

The golden-armored hunter gave Axl an annoyed look. "Well, I did! You're welcome for saving your life by the way!"

The two stared each other down intensely while the twins exchanged looks.

"This should be interesting," Zack remarked.

"Yup," Cody responded.

Before long, a familiar warning siren got everyone's attention.

The twins, London, and Axl were greeted by grave looks adorning the faces of X, Zero, Bailey, Alia, and two faces they didn't recognize.

"What's going on? And who're they?" London piped up.

After a quick meet-and-greet session, Alia got down to the matter at hand.

"We've received reports of Maverick attacks at various locations."

"When did this happen?" X asked.

"That's the thing. They seemed to come out of nowhere just a few minutes ago," Bailey added.

Alia took a deep breath before continuing. "And that's not even the worst part. Take a look for yourself."

She gestured towards the screen she was looking at. All of the Hunters were stunned, but for different reasons. The Suite Life Trio were trying to digest what they were looking at, while the main Maverick Hunters were shocked to see some familiar faces. Those faces were of Boomer Kuwanger, Crystal Snail, Crush Crawfish, Magma Dragoon, Grizzly Slash, Commander Yammark, Wind Crowang, and Bamboo Pandamonium.

"How is this possible? How could they be back? Who could've rebuilt them?" X wondered aloud.

Zack looked at Zero, horrified. "I thought you said you took care of Magma Dragoon!"

"I don't know," Zero replied, "Maybe this was the work of whoever brought back Vile."

"Whatever the case may be, we need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand," Alia said, with a very serious tone to her voice. "I suggest you guys go in teams of two. Myself, Cali, and Bailey will provide navigational support if you want."

Alia gestured to a teleporter and console at the eastern side of the room.

"Whenever you're ready, pick a Maverick on the console. The teleporter will send you to where you need to be."

Her explanation was interrupted by a tapping sound. Turns out the shorter Martin twin was way ahead of everybody, as he was setting a course for Magma Dragoon's area.

"What the… are you crazy?"

He was already gone before anyone could stop him. Cody just shook his head.

"Why didn't I see this coming? I'll go get him."

He turned to take off, but Zero's voice stopped him.

"Don't bother. We don't need two of you rookies risking your necks at the same time. Besides, I know the terrain a thousand times better than you do."

"Well, I know my _brother_ about a thousand times better than you do."

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Zero asserted in a firm voice before walking off and teleporting away himself.

Cody could only watch with mixed emotions as he watched the long-haired robot leave.

"He really does know what he's doing. Zack will be fine," X reassured. "I know. Zero and I go back quite a while, and he's saved me more than once."

"I hope you're right…" the darker blue reploid trailed off.

* * *

**Suggested BGM: Stage Select (Zack &amp; Zero): Stage Select 1 (Mega Man X2)**

**Like I said, the action kicks off next chapter. Feel free to read and review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Burning Avenger

Chapter 12

The next image Zack saw was what could be described as a world of fire: rocky cliffs overlooked pools of lava, which played host to comet-like fireballs that hopped about. Tons of machinery lined a cavalcade of oddly well-placed platforms. He'd seen volcanoes before during many of his adventures aboard the S.S. Tipton, but not like this. This was simply beyond his description.

Snapping himself out of his awe, he remembered his mission. He had a dragoon to find. He dashed ahead, taking care to leap over the lava pools he came across. Eventually, he encountered pools arcing with fireballs. After a few unpleasant close calls, he noticed a pattern in the way the fireballs moved: they seemed to come up and down from the molten rock at strict intervals. He was no science wiz, but he had a feeling that that was not how nature worked.

Zack was coming to a section of platforms when he heard foreign footsteps. His curiosity piqued, he turned around and studied the area. A figure suddenly caught his eye. It moved along the walls of the volcano with well-trained grace and agility. Only as the figure came closer did Zack realize that it was none other than Zero.

"Thought I'd find you here," the long-haired robot said as he landed a few feet away from Zack.

"You tailed me here?" Zack asked, somewhat shocked to see him here.

"Of course. It was either that, or let your brother break his neck trying to find you out here. Do I even need to ask why you took off?"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Oh, it's nothing really. Just cleaning up your mess."

Zero shot a harsh glare back at the darker Reploid. "Look. I know I sent Magma Dragoon to the scrapheap a long time ago. Some clown probably just rebuilt him. Believe me, it's not a very rare thing."

Zack was shocked to hear this. Reploids could be rebuilt, just like that? And who in their right mind would rebuild a mass-murdering psycho that killed hundreds just to goad someone into a challenge?

Zero continued on. "I'll admit that you have moxie, kid. But Maverick Hunters don't go around picking fights on a whim. We're not some gang of vigilantes."

"You saw what he did. Heck, you _told_ me what he did. How did _you _react after he did this?"

In truth, Zero's initial reaction to the Sky Lagoon incident wasn't that different from Zack's current one. In fact, he saw the same righteous fury blazing in his eyes that was his own all that time ago. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"About the same," he admitted. "But that doesn't mean that what you did wasn't reckless and stupid."

Zack had heard variations of this speech before from two people he knew in particular. He was about to tune it out as he'd learned to do by now when Zero took out his saber and pointed it at his neck.

"W-What the…" Zack barely got out.

"Look, I'm not your babysitter. I have no interest in chasing after you. Try something like this again, and… well, we already know that you can't beat me in a fight."

"That's never been proven," Zack weakly pointed out.

"Zack," Zero growled, a low and dangerous edge to his voice.

"G-Got it."

"Good," Zero removed his blade from its precarious position. "Now follow me."

"Wait. We're still doing this?"

"Yup. You started this thing, and you're going to finish it. Let's. Go."

The two Hunters made their way through the platforming section, smashing the enemies in their way, and dodging more fireballs as well as the odd boulder that seemed to come out of nowhere. At last, they reached the boss door.

"Well, see you later," Zero piped up suddenly.

"You're leaving me here now!?" Zack exclaimed, horrified.

"Yeah. I did say that _you_ were going to finish this, right."

"Yeah, but…"

"Go on. Fight your little battle. I'll be watching."

With that, Zero warped away.

* * *

"You just left him there!?" Bailey gasped, echoing the sentiments of everyone back at Hunter Base.

"Trust me. I'm getting somewhere with this."

Cody's voice oozed panic as he spoke. "You're _getting_ _somewhere_ by letting some random dinosaur thing beat up my brother?"

"Kid's gotta learn how to take a few lumps. It's part of being a Hunter. Besides, if what I've seen from him holds any water, I'm sure he'll be fine."

* * *

Mustering courage, Zack entered the room at the end of the doorway. Fittingly enough, it was a chamber surrounded by a pool of lava. At the other side of the room, a figure stood with his back turned to him.

"Magma Dragoon, I presume."

"Oh, and where did you come from, little boy?"

"What did you call me?" the Maverick Hunter hissed.

The dragon-like reploid turned to face the robotic teen. "You heard me. Now run along now, before you get hurt."

"You're the one who's going to get hurt! Do you realize how much destruction you caused when you made the Sky Lagoon Fall?"

"Bold words, kid. The whole Sky Lagoon thing was just my way of issuing a challenge. I'd say it worked pretty well. Even you turned up."

Zack growled.

"Let's see what kind of fight you'll put up!" Magma Dragoon said before pouncing at the boy.

Zack dodged, but the Maverick countered with a fireball to Zack's midsection. The boy got up and rushed Dragoon with punches. A few hit, but he received a fiery uppercut in return. Before he knew it, Zack was getting drilled with attacks. Finally, he pounded the ground in a desperate attempt to turn the tide. To his shock, he'd caused a quake that slowed Dragoon enough for him to wind up a punch and throw it at him. His fist was coated in a white aura as it landed plush. Dragoon was knocked in the air.

_Now's my chance_, he thought. He jumped up to meet his enemy and powerfully kicked him into the lava pool, destroying him. As he died, Dragoon uttered one last sentence.

"Not bad, kid."

Zack simply shook his head. He didn't think any praise from this creep was worth hearing.

He was contemplating his next move when a red orb caught his attention. He picked it up out of sheer curiosity. To his surprise, he was warped away immediately.

* * *

**Suggested BGM:**

**Magma Dragoon Stage- "Magma Dragoon" (Mega Man X4)**

**Magma Dragoon Battle- "Boss Battle" (Mega Man X4)**

**Read and review if you feel like it.**


	13. Chapter 13: Darkness Rises

Chapter 13

As everyone looked on, Zack reappeared in the navigation room of Hunter Base. An indiscernible look dressed the teen's features. Most of the room seemed to be holding its collective breath, as if waiting for a break in the tension.

Zero, however, remained composed and calm. "Well, it seems you made it back in one piece."

Everyone in the room immediately looked to Zero, appalled by his apparent insensitivity. Zero either didn't notice this shift, or didn't care.

In response to this, Zack's fists instinctively clenched, as if he was ready to punch him. This body language certainly wasn't lost on the lighter red robot, who gave him a look that practically dared him to try something. Luckily for everyone, Zack backed down, remembering Zero's recent threats. His posture relaxed, and he started to walk away, but not before giving the swordsman a _very_ dirty look.

Cali opened her mouth to say something, but Zero cut her off.

"Don't bother saying anything. He needs some time to himself."

…

After wandering around a bit, Zack found himself at an observation deck. He didn't know how he'd gotten there, as his thoughts had taken his attention. It had been a three-ring circus of fury, sadness, and abject frustration. It was bad enough that he had to fight a maniac like Dragoon alone. Adding on Zero's casual reaction to him surviving disturbed him even more. It had taken a last-second pang of reason to stop him from charging the long-haired robot. What was worse, Zero's calm demeanor also raised a terrifying question: was this fighting so common that it was nothing more than routine here? And what did that mean for Bailey? London? Cody…

"A penny for your thoughts?"

The foreign, western-accented voice took him back to reality. He turned his attention to a black-armored reploid that Zack supposed would be around his 50s if he was human. His white hair was long, albeit shorter than London's or Zero's.

"Who are you?"

"Just a friend." The man said it as if he were talking to an old friend. "You seemed rather troubled, so I thought I'd stop by."

Zack stared down the other reploid, as if looking for some sort of code in his features, his mannerisms. Unlike his twin, Zack wasn't one for immediately rolling out the red carpet to greet others. Anyone new passed his test before he'd even consider rolling out the welcome wagon.

The man merely chuckled in response. "Problem, bud? If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you don't trust me."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "You could say that."

"To think, your brother said you wouldn't be the most… welcoming. Can't say I was prepared for this."

The mention of Cody put Zack on edge even more. Just what was this guy's game?

"Don't worry 'bout it though. I'm… used to it."

He could've sworn that he saw the old man's face fall briefly as he said that last part.

The man's jovial demeanor returned "I consider it a nice change of pace, compared to the others."

Zack felt his attention span ebbing away by the moment. "Get on with it. Who the heck are you and why are you here?"

"You may call me Black," The old man paced around Zack, seeming not to have a care in the world. "And I'm here on a special request. The Maverick Hunters requested your presence. X said he had something to show you."

The young reploid rolled his eyes. He couldn't ignore the others forever, after all.

"Fine."

"I could escort you back…"

"I'll find my own way, thank you." He walked off in a manner similar to a child told to clean his room.

Black went to follow him, but not before delivering a message.

"I've arrived. I've already made contact with Zack. He's suspicious… I need to be careful."

A deep voice emanated from nowhere in particular. "Good. Make your presence known to the others, and keep an eye on all of them, especially that X."

…

Ten minutes earlier…

"Hold still, please. This'll only take a second."

Alia had Cody stand in front of a scanner of some kind welded to one of the walls of the navigation room. London and Bailey stood there, for once equally bewildered at what was going on.

Bailey raised the obvious question. "So… what's this for, again?"

"I'm scanning Cody's internal systems. I'll need a good readout for what I'm about to do next."

"Uh…" is all the taller twin could manage in the face of that explanation. Bailey visibly shuddered. London just looked disgusted.

"Okay…"

"Ew… Just, ew."

"It's not as creepy as it sounds," Alia assured. "It's just a scanner. Besides, if we're gonna get your weapons ready, we'll need to know your systems inside and out."

"Weapons?" Cody asked.

"Yeah. I'm… not the best person to explain that to you," The navigator gestured towards X. "X, why don't you take this one?"

X, who had been silent for some time, quickly obliged. "Yes, weapons. You see, being New Generation reploids, you have the ability to copy the shape or abilities of others. Based on what we've observed from you three, we guessed that you might have a variation on my Variable Weapons System."

While Cody and Bailey were not only intrigued, but enraptured by this topic, London rather lost. Thankfully, Zero caught on to this and simplified things.

"Basically, you defeat an enemy, you get a power or ability based on the enemy."

"Remember when Zack beat Magma Dragoon?"

Cody cringed at the reminder of the still fresh incident. Zack still hadn't even come back yet. Nobody else seemed to notice this, however.

X continued on without an answer. "Just before he left, he picked up glowing red orb. It was sent to the R&amp;D lab. Or finished here, it will be denaturized, digitized, and molded to your specific DNA code, resulting in your different powers and abilities."

"Wait," Cody interrupted. "How would that work in me and Zack's case? We're identical twins. Our DNA's… well, identical. And yet we clearly have very different powers as is."

_Good question_, Bailey thought.

X didn't have an answer for this one.

"If I may, I have a theory."

A black armored reploid walked in at that moment. An odd mixture of confidence and control radiated off of him. He didn't look particularly well off, but he brought an air of status, of power, with him as he moved. In fact, it reminded Bailey how London usually portrayed herself (or, at least tried to). While all four teenagers were awed, Cali herself looked rather anxious, her eyes darting back and forth between the man and everyone else.

Zero wasn't impressed in the slightest. "And you are?"

"Just an old man, wanting to help out his fellow reploids. Call me Black."

"Oh, you mean, like the color?" London blurted out.

"Uh… yeah."

Black let the moment lie there and turned his attention to X. "Nice to meet you, X. I've gotta say, you do look much taller on TV."

"Well, the camera does add on a few pounds…" London mumbled absentmindedly.

"Likewise." X shook the old man's hand. "What brings you here, exactly?"

"Like I said, I'm here to help. I'm here to study the psychological effects of combat on Reploids. I see you've already met up with Cali and Kylie. They're with me."

Zero batted an eye at this. "Funny. I didn't hear anything about you until…just now."

"Me neither," Axl added, bolstering his point.

"I assure you, this is on the up and up," Cali promised, perhaps a little too quickly. "We cleared this with Signas and everything."

"Where's he been, anyway?" Bailey questioned aloud. "Haven't seen him much since we got here."

Black cleared his throat. "If I may…"

This quieted down the room.

"Er, anyway, my theory was that your different abilities might've had something to do with your personalities. Twins as you two might be, There must be distinctions there, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Cody answered matter-of-factly. "Under normal circumstances, Zack would be off with Woody doing who-knows-what."

"Woody?" Alia questioned.

"A friend of ours," Bailey provided.

Black asked the obvious next question. "Speaking of the other twin, where is he now?"

"We're not sure," Alia replied, putting her hand to her chin. "After the incident with Magma Dragoon, he had a brief stare down with Zero and then took off. We haven't seen him since."

"Maybe he wound up at the observation deck," X suggested. "It's where I go to figure things out."

"Okay. I can go fetch him if you want…"

"You know your way around?"

The black reploid waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'll have you know that I have a natural sense of direction. I'll find him."

"In that case, be my guest. He needs to hear this stuff."

"Besides, he can't hide from Zero forever," Axl remarked.

Black had turned to leave when Cody stopped him.

"Hold on."

"What?"

"My brother's not particularly welcoming to strangers, and considering what's happened… Well, just don't take anything he says personally, and don't be surprised if it take some convincing to get him down here."

"Will do." With that, Black left.


	14. Chapter 14: The Wisdom Tooth Incident

Chapter 14

Meanwhile, everyone back at the navigation room was trying to figure out how to get London in front of the scanner. Unlike Cody, who went under even with his reservations, the rich girl was not going to go easily.

"Come on, it's only for a few seconds! Get…over…here!" Alia said as she struggled to drag the gold-plated reploid to the red laser in the back of the room. London was surprisingly strong for her petite figure, so Bailey had to pitch in, and eventually, so did Cali. Cody just stood there, staring at the scene it quiet awe. He had not pictured this when he woke up this morning.

"No way! I'm not going anywhere near that thing!" the girl in question protested, pulling away from the group.

"You know, you could actually help instead of standing there like a post!"

"Huh? Oh, um…right," Cody replied, stumbling out of his trance with all the grace of a brick. He didn't have many options to lure London to that scanner. Except…

"Well, there is one thing we could try…"

Alia's voice came out exhausted and desperate. "What is it? I'm kind of willing to try anything at this point!"

Cody shot Bailey a look that the latter understood all too well.

"No. No way. We're _not_ going through that again."

"Look around. Looks like we don't have much of a choice if we want to leave with everyone's arms intact."

"Let me handle this."

Zero calmly walked up to the scene and picked up London, running her through the scanner himself.

"Okay, then." Nobody knew what to say to that. Even Cody was at a loss for words.

Axl broke the silence. "What did you mean when you said 'we're not going through that again'?"

Boyfriend and girlfriend looked at each other uneasily while London took a moment to recover from the scanner and being manhandled by Zero.

"C'mon, what's the big story?" the navy reploid pressed.

After a quick look around revealing that his twin was nowhere in sight, he sighed heavily.

"Fine, just don't tell Zack about this. This isn't something he's proud of."

With that, he began his discourse.

* * *

The so-called "wisdom tooth incident" brought back less-than-pleasant memories for everyone involved. Everyone (especially Mr. Moseby) had been prodding London for weeks to get her wisdom teeth taken out, only to be met with her constant refusals. In her mind, she could deal with a "wizard tooth". No tooth with magical powers was going to put her out of the public eye for a week. To everyone's chagrin, she kept onward until the pain was excruciating and she was practically drooling rivers. Even after a parade of her friends and family took turns trying to make her see reason, they still couldn't get her off of the boat. Running out of options, Mr. Moseby called up everyone that he thought could help. The girl wasn't convinced even when Esteban, Arwin (who even offered to do the surgery himself), and even the twins' mother, Carey joined the chorus of pleas. One late night, an emergency meeting was called in a last-ditch attempt to end the crisis. Here, Marion Moseby did the unthinkable.

"Zack… Got any ideas?"

"You, asking for _my_ input?" Mock surprise tinted the boy's voice. He couldn't help but revel in the very unusual development, despite the circumstances. "Gee, the apocalypse looks…oddly peaceful."

Cody shot his brother a disapproving look, but he didn't seem to notice.

"This is serious," the cruise ship manager hissed, though mentally, he agreed with him. _Would've thought the end would've been hotter._

"Alright, alright." He thought for a few seconds. "Mr. Moseby, get Mr. Tipton on the line."

"What're you…"

"Trust me."

Ordinarily, the mere idea of trusting Zack with his past would have been laughable. Unfortunately, this situation was anything but ordinary. He sighed deeply. _Do not make me regret this, Zackary Martin, _was his only thought as he did as he was told.

Zack continued giving orders. "Cody, Bailey: I need you to convince London that she's going to a photo shoot."

The taller twin was reviled at the unethical nature of the idea. "You want us to lie to her? To take advantage of her?"

Bailey put her hands to her hips. "You do realize that she's our friend, _your _friend, right?"

Zack closed his eyes tightly. "Yeah. I also know that the only ways to get London Tipton to do anything she doesn't want to do is to trick or bribe her. Remember how she got on the ship in the first place?"

"I still don't like this," Cody said flatly, unable to argue with his brother in this one instance.

"Neither do I."

Convincing her of the photo shoot idea was actually the easy part, as it turned out. The hard part was finding a private hospital. Taking London Tipton to a public hospital was practically a death wish, as paparazzi would swarm the area at the slightest hint of her existence. Thankfully, Mr. Tipton pulled some strings and had her put in a very "private" hospital, very much off the radar of any potential prying eyes, ears, or cameras. In the interest of avoiding a fight, the group kept the girl in question sedated thanks to a hypnotism kit Zack borrowed from Woody.

By the time they managed to get the rich girl on the cot, it was 5:30 in the morning and everyone had been up for hours.

Zack couldn't care less about his lack of sleep. The grin plastered on his face might've blinded anyone staring directly at it. Literally everything he'd laid out was going according to plan. By the time six a.m. hit, her tooth would be out, at least one of his schemes would've worked, and for once, he wouldn't be on the wrong side of a set of disapproving looks. Cody and Bailey, meanwhile, was more surprised that nothing had gone wrong. Mr. Moseby was on pins and needles, expecting something to go wrong.

"This is too good to be true, this is too good to be true, this is too good to be true…"

"Look at it this way. If anything were to go wrong, it would've happened already, right?" Bailey asked, trying to calm the panicking manager.

Everyone watched as she was put under. As soon as she was, they were ushered out into the hall to wait.

"I can't believe this actually worked…" The taller twin said in genuine disbelief.

"I can't believe it either," his brother responded, the excitement never leaving his voice. "It really is a beautiful thing when a plan comes together."

"Since when do your plans ever come together?"

Zack knew Cody had a point, but didn't care. As far as he was concerned, nothing could ruin this. "Well, there's a first time for everything, dear brother."

After a few minutes, a loud bang shocked everyone.

"What was that?"

"Not good. That's what it was."

After a couple seconds, they heard mumbling. Female mumbling.

By now, the tension in the hall was palpable.

In minutes, squirming and yelling could be heard, followed by the clanging of metal.

"Pin her down. She keeps moving!"

"How did she shrug off the anesthesia so fast?"

"She shrugged off the anesthesia?" Bailey asked, overhearing the conversation in the O.R.

"No…" Zack whispered to himself. This couldn't really be happening, could it?

"This can't end well…" the manager said ruefully.

The operating nurse came out looking like she'd been in a tornado. "Okay, who's up for some good news and bad news?"

"What's the good news?" Cody asked.

"We got the tooth out."

"And the bad news?" Moseby finished, dread lining his question.

"Your friend here did about $500,000 in damages."

Everyone shot up at once. "WHAT?!"

"See for yourself."

The room looked like a war zone: spilled liquids and expensive-looking machinery lined the floor. At the center of it all was an army of nurses holding down a half-awake London Tipton.

Everybody's jaws dropped in the face of the scene.

"Don't just stand there gawking, help us!" A nurse snapped at them.

Everyone involved had to throw themselves at the effort to restrain the girl. After 30 minutes, the girl was asleep again, the gang was collapsed with exhaustion, and the hospital was assessing the damages.

"This can't be happening…" Moseby gasped as he looked at the sum of the bill. He knew his boss would have his head for this.

"Look at it this way. At least the tooth came out, right?" Zack tried to console the man, even though his own heart was far from in it.

He was met with a glare. "You do realize that this is on your head, Zachary."

"But…"

"I'm tired of being on the losing end of your schemes! Just… just… leave me alone."

With one last look, Zack saw not the usual anger or irritation radiating off of his friendly rival. He was truly tired of him.

So the manager left to explain things to his boss while the boy just stood there, motionless, soundless, thought-less.

In the month since then, nether spoke to each other. They acknowledged each other as if they were going through the motions. When anybody brought up the incident. Both Zack and Mr. Moseby would change the subject on a dime. Perhaps most telling of all, neither were acting normal after the incident: Zack was much more irritable than usual. He didn't do much at all, good or bad. That is perhaps what worried Cody the most. It was like he totally gave up. Moseby was a shell of his former self, barely doing his job enough to get by. It bothered everyone immensely, but nobody dared bring up the day in front of them.

Cody shook his head. "Neither of them have been the same since."

* * *

Found it pretty funny, actually," Axl commented.

"Suppose it should be, in a sense…"

A throat-clearing sound got everyone's attention. It was Zack.

"Oh, we were just…" Cody began, hoping his brother hadn't heard what they were just talking about. He was glad Zack didn't have laser vision, or he would've been dead meat.

"Hate to interrupt story time," he began, "But what do you want, X?"

"Well, we need to pass some information to you." The Azure Hunter went on to summarize what he'd explained earlier. As he stepped through the scanner, Zack tried to look unfazed, but couldn't hide his intrigue at the idea. This "variable weapons" thing sounded interesting. Even he couldn't be indifferent to the idea of getting abilities from enemies. Heck, if he'd been in a better mood, he would've been all over the idea.

"Well, what happens now?"

"Follow me," X responded, leading everyone to their next destination.

* * *

**I'm putting this story on hiatus. Why? I've just got my hands too full right now. Eventually, I'll come back to it...when things settle down, perhaps. For right now, I don't want this story dominating my thoughts. I want-and have-to focus on other things. Thanks so much for your patronage. Until next time!**


	15. Chapter 15: Flame On!

**Hey everyone! It's been quite a while since I last touched this story. I extend a heartfelt thanks towards all of those who've struck to this and kept reading. I've waffled back and forth as to what to do with this story, and have decided to continue it. I want to focus on this thing being a good story on its own merits, so I'll work on it at my own pace. Enough of my diatribe… Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 15

The Maverick Hunters led the way into a room that Zero called "The Armory". What the Suite Life Gang saw was not what they expected. In fact, instead of a cadre of weapons, they saw a very different sort of scanner, not unlike one from an airport. Other than that, it was fairly barren.

Zack scratched his head. "This is the armory? Am I missing something here?"

"Looks can be deceiving." X walked ahead to the scanner, and after a scanning period similar to what they'd just experienced in the navigation room, he walked out as if nothing had happened. He closed his eyes, apparently focusing, before opening them again.

"Rising Fire!"

He pounded his buster to the ground, releasing a pillar of red-orange flame that surrounded him and rose skyward before dissipating into smoke. The twins, London, and Bailey were awestruck, while the Hunters looked as if they'd seen this 1000 times.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Axl mused, clearly taking pleasure in the looks on the rookies' faces.

"Not the adjective I'd use…" Bailey scanned X visually for any injuries, but he looked unharmed.

Apparently, Cody had done the same, as he asked, "That doesn't hurt?"

"Nope." X couldn't have looked more unfazed. He'd clearly been around the block. He gestured toward the scanner. "Go on."

Not one of the four teens-turned-reploids moved.

"Come on, we don't have all day." Zero walked through himself, as if to provide another example. "See? No harm, no foul. Let's _go_."

Zack and Cody exchanged looks, engaging in a sort of wordless conversation that they'd honed over the years. As Axl went through and promptly showed off a flamethrower like weapon, the conversation ended with the former throwing his hands up and heading off.

At first, the shorter twin felt as if nothing had changed. "Okay, then. How's this supposed to work?"

"Just concentrate," X instructed. "It should come to you naturally soon enough."

The brunette gave the Blue Bomber an odd look. "Telling Zack Martin to concentrate? You'd have better luck convincing Cody to go to some no-name community college."

"I heard that." The boy in question closed his eyes, but was unsure about one thing: what was he supposed to be visualizing? He made himself focus harder, and visions of fire entered his head. Then he opened his eyes.

"Speed Burner."

As he heard himself say the words, the shorter twin lunged forward a few feet, wreathed in flames before skidding to a stop. Any bitter thoughts he'd went in with vanished at that moment.

"That. Was. AWESOME!"

Mixed feelings abounded inside the taller twin's head as he watched his brother subsequent joyride with these new fire powers. On the one hand, he denied that he should logically be nothing else but terrified at the prospect of him essentially being a living meteor. In a way, you could say that Mr. Moseby's worst, if not somewhat exaggerated, fears had come true. On a less logical level, he could appreciate that he was probably seeing one of the few glimpses of Zack's carefree attitude he'd seen in what felt like forever. It was a far cry from the eerily cold and distant behavior that they'd all dealt with the past month. Maybe there was a chance of actually getting through to…

"Wall. Wall! WALL!"

Everybody collectively cringed at the ensuing collision. When the smoke cleared, the shorter twin was in a crater of his own making, once again unconscious.

The swordsman shook his head in a sort of mock pity. "Poor kid. He must really love walls." After the resulting stickers died down, Zero's eagle eyed gaze focused on Cody. "Well? Come on, let's move it."

Going through the scanner himself, he learned his ability was called Fire Wave, essentially a flamethrower weapon. It simultaneously terrified and fascinated him every time he used it. The inevitable "packing heat" joke flashed in his mind, but he was sure that even in unconsciousness, his brother would find a way to berate him for that joke.

London almost had to be carried through a scanner for the second time in a row. At the last second though, she reluctantly agreed to go through. She got Fire Arrows that she could apparently shoot other one at a time or, after a brief charging period, three at a time. To say that she adapted quickly would be a huge understatement. She went wild with the weapons, to the point that a few stray shots narrowly missed the spectating Maverick Hunters.

"Quite the aim on that one, eh, boy?"

Cody immediately recognize the voice. "Black? I didn't see you come in."

"Yeah, I had some business to attend to." He took a cursory look at the unconscious body mind a few feet away, outside of the barricades. "He's okay, right."

"Yeah." The boy responded in kind. He was getting strangely used to these sorts of situations, and wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. "If what Zero said, and what happened last time's any indication, he should be back with us in about 5 to 10 minutes."

"Mmm." the elderly looking reploid stared off into space for a brief moment before opening his mouth to speak. "Any time you'd like to talk; I'd be fair game."

Cody's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. His mind buzzed with the possibilities of what he could learn from Black. In fact, he had to work to keep himself from giggling like a schoolgirl as he responded.

"Sir, I will absolutely take you up on that offer!" As the two shook hands, X called out to Cody.

"You're coming with me, Cody. We're going to pay a visit to an old friend of mine."


	16. Chapter 16: The Fortress Tower

**Happy New Year, everybody. Sorry this took so long to come out. I hope it proves to be worth the wait!**

* * *

Chapter 16

A few minutes later, X found himself touching down at an eerily familiar metallic wasteland overlooking a tower that looked just as decrepit. Of course, _he'd _caused most of that destruction in the first place. He didn't like reminding himself of that fact though, as his nightmares did the job just as well. Still, he forced himself to put on a brave face, if only to not alarm the boy trailing behind him.

"With any luck, nothing will happen and we can convince our friend to come back with us." _I highly doubt that's gonna happen,_ he added in his head cynically.

"And if we're not?" There was a note of apprehension in Cody's voice that had been front and center since he had stepped up to the teleporter. Despite everyone's (excluding a still-unconscious Zack) assurances that X would have his back and there was little chance of anything going wrong considering the massive support system they had back at the base, that had apparently done little to calm his nerves. Then again, considering what his brother had just went through, it wasn't surprising.

Instead of answering, X urged him onwards. "Let's go. Watch my back."

The duo warily moved forward, narrowly dodging what lasers were still active, and destroying any stragglers that headed their way. Next up was the elevator.

"Watch it," X warned. "The spikes, such as they are, are still lethal."

"Really?" The blonde asked, bewildered. "How does that even work anyway? Aren't Reploids made of metal that's meant to resist small RPG fire?"

"You ask way too many questions," X responded, more focused on the mission than the boy's impromptu press conference. "Just keep moving."

It was indeed a tense few minutes as they narrowly dodged the now-jagged arrangements of spines that lowered as they went up.

On approaching the outer wall, they scaled their way up what were now rusting ladders to enter the final chamber. The last climb was done in complete silence, as there were no enemies in sight. In fact, there was little to see but the top floor that awaited them.

"How…how do you do all this?"

The Blue Bomber snapped at attention to his pupil's question. After all these years of combat, he still lacked an answer to that question. A real answer, that is.

"I fight for peace," he said simply, reading off his mental cue card.

"Peace? Just how common is this?!"

X hesitated, realizing what he was asking. This clearly wasn't a common thing where they were from, if it wasn't obvious before. The real dilemma came from deciding what to tell him that wouldn't mentally scar the kid for life.

"Very. You don't want to know the details." His tone was as stern and commanding as he could make it, and thankfully, it finally shut the curious boy up.

Cody hadn't even needed to be told to brace himself. While both were hoping for the best, they both also somehow knew that what awaited them wouldn't be nearly as easy as X had laid it out to be.

Meanwhile, the navigation room was abuzz with activity. Mainly, that activity involved keeping an eye on the active Blue Bombers running around. Alia kept her eyes on the screens and radar in front of her, while Bailey and Cali switched off configuring data, with the veteran offering help wherever she could, and all the while being peppered with inquiries about the boys' welfare. From what the navigator could tell, both of them were doing pretty well. X have been doing this for decades at this point, so she'd expected that he knew what he was doing. From what she could gather based mainly on eavesdropping on the duo's communications, the only real talking the two did was X issuing "heads up" advice, and Cody asking rather obvious questions, or at least question she would've considered obvious to ask considering the situation. Alia very much doubted that the tall blonde would actually get concrete answers, but she'd give him points for curiosity, if nothing else.

As she thought about this, she heard the automatic doors of the navigation room open. The three girls turned around to see Zero and Zack, apparently back fresh from a bit of training at the Base. While the former looked as neutral as he very often was between missions and training, the latter looked like he'd truly been put through the wringer. All she could say was, there was a reason why they didn't let Zero anywhere near the fresh recruits.

"Well, look who's back! How'd the training go?"

"Fine." Zero said abruptly.

"Fine?! You call redefining the word "torture" 'fine'?"

The swordsman rolled his eyes. "Oh, stop being a baby. Weren't you supposed be the athletic one?"

"Yeah. The key word is 'athletic'. I'm _not_ a Marine."

Zero shook his head. "Please. Marines _wish _they could do this stuff." He paid the boy no more attention and changed the subject. "I'm guessing the girl and Axl are still out shooting?"

Bailey took the liberty of answering this time. "Yup. Those two left about the same time you picked up Zack and left. From what I heard, those two are still going at it. I don't think Axl's ever going to live this down."

"By the by… Whatever happened to Cody and X?" The shorter haired boyasked after a few seconds of looking around and not spotting either of them.

"They're out there dealing with Boomer Kuwanger," Alia supplied.

"They're _what_?"

Back in the field, the two hunters entered into a rather large and empty looking chamber, marked by various cracks and scattered amounts of rubble, which were created either from age or were the results of the Azure Hunter's last visit here.

The smart twin glanced at his mentor, and a steely glare community of the unspoken message of: "stay sharp". It didn't take long for the kid to feel another presence in the room. Cold and stealthy, it seemed to pass by and through him. They were clearly not alone. While he was already getting nervous himself, X didn't seem to flinch, didn't seem to move. Then again, Cody supposed, he probably been doing this longer than he was alive. He had no reason to be afraid.

"Long time, no see X."

the voice nearly sent the Ivy League hopeful into the ceiling, but X stayed still as stone.

"Likewise, Boomer." X unsheathed his arm cannon, not showing a hint of emotion.

Images of a stag beetle-esque creature decorated the walls and ceiling. Reflexively, the boy sent out his Buster, too dumbfounded by what he was seeing to get a lock on exactly what he was supposed to be focusing on.

"Hmm…so this is the boy you've been carting around. Could say I expected more."

Cody might've taken offense to that, but considering the situation, ignored in favor of the issue at hand. "Just _what _are you?"

The robot managed to chuckle despite lacking a mouth. "Man, you're green. Seriously X, why would you bring some rookie fresh off the lot into this? It doesn't sound like you. Then again, you always did have a thing for stragglers."

"How are you back in one piece? Who rebuilt you?"

Oh, come on, X. you can't seriously be _that_ out of the loop. I know you. You're _far_ from ignorant. You know _exactly_ who rebuilt me. He's been real close, all this time.

"Sigma?!" He blurted out, practically on instinct at this point.

"Who?"

The next snicker was aimed specifically at Cody. "Wow. How long have you been living under a rock? Oh, well… I'm sure if you make it out of here in one piece, X will brief you on the whole thing."

"In one piece? What are you talking about? We came here to bring you back, right X?"

"Yes. It's pretty clear that he doesn't want to fight you," the veteran said in reference to his pupil. "Stand down."

"Now, now, X. You should know from experience that that's not how this is going to go. The guy who rebuilt me sent me here to test you, and see what that kid over there is made of. Enough talk. En garde, X!" With that, the fight began.

* * *

**Next time, the battle begins proper. Be sure to review and tell me what you think, good or ill. All feedback is very much appreciated!**


	17. Chapter 17: Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 17

The beetle-esque robot's strikes came quickly and without preamble. Despite what was thrown his way, X seemed completely calm and collected, dancing around his adversary's attacks with well-practiced ease. Cody could only move himself out of the danger zone as he took in the fight around him. The second X found an opening, he unleashed a shot of Rising Fire at his airborne opponent. Clearly smarting from the hit (though clearly not as much as he should've been, by standards of pure logic), the Maverick decided to change tactics…and targets. He started moving around the arena and a mind-bending speed, creating after images of himself. Neither Hunter was having an easy time tracking their enemy, but X, unlike his protégé, didn't let it show on his face. That cold, battle hardened expression never left his face.

"All right, X. That's enough out of you for now. Let's see what the boy's capable of."

Before X could intervene, Kuwanger was already on top of Cody, who is doing everything he could just defend himself. He had now begun using the pair of scissors that had previously served as a headpiece as a weapon, throwing them as one would throw a boomerang.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" the twin begged. Any bravado he had walked in the door with had now completely dissolved in favor of the sort of desperation that comes with fighting for your life.

"You're not impressing me, kid. What does that old man see in you, anyway?"

"What are you talking about?" Cody managed to buy himself enough time to get a Fire Wave off and take off running. He knew it was kill or be killed in this situation, but he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge that fact. It terrified him too much.

"Hmph. The killer instinct... That's what you lack." X was now fighting to get Boomer away from his charge, but his enemy's speed was proving to be a challenge to counter.

"It doesn't matter how much power you have at your disposal. So long as you don't pull the trigger, you're as good as dead!" Kuwanger aimed to decapitate Cody, but with remarkable speed of his own he managed to dip under the weapon as it sailed over his head. "Come on! I like fun fights, and you're just making this boring!"

"Fighting? Fun?" The boy staggered back from a kick he'd just taken in response. "You're crazy!"

"That's exactly what a Maverick is, Cody. Crazy." X said as he exploited the whole that his adversary left in his focus and very brutally plunged his Buster into Kuwanger's gut. If Cody had been human at that point, he'd have likely thrown up. Instead, his mouth just hung a wide-open, as if he'd had a front row seat to a 10 car pileup.

"So this is how it ends, eh, X?" The Maverick turned his now fading glare to the shell-shocked blonde. "Make no mistake, boy. This world around you is corrupt." The robot struggled to get free of his predicament in vain as X charged a shot. "It changes you. You don't change it. Adapt or die."

The ensuing explosion didn't so much as make either hero flinch, but for different reasons: X was well used to this, while Cody was practically beyond reaching at this point. In fact, the former had to take the orb and physically carry the latter to a safe spot where they could warp back to base.


	18. Author's Note

Author's Note

I have an announcement: I will be discontinuing this story effective immediately. I think the loyal readers who are stuck by the story though it's very sporadic history, and I think those people are the ones that deserve an exclamation the most. I know I've done something like this before, but I'm serious when I sit ay it now. I can't in good conscience force myself to keep writing a story partly based on a Disney Channel show that, while I have fond memories for it, have no interest in and honestly just want to move on from. The reason I kept writing to this point is simply from a feeling of obligation to finish this fiction piece. I don't want to be like that. I want to write something because I want to write it, not because they feel forced to. Now, I'm not saying that this fake is permanently dead. I still have the concept for this piece in mind, and, perhaps, in a few years' time, I may come back to this fresh. Maybe sooner. But for now, I bid readers of this story a fond farewell. I'll still be lurking on the site however. Thank you for your understanding and support.


End file.
